Southern Vermont College is a College Worth Saving

SOUTHERN VERMONT COLLEGE - Alumni and Friends - Bennington, VT

“Southern Vermont College affirms a deep belief in the potential of every individual. We embrace diversity in all its forms, fostering excellence and personal responsibility in each member of our community…” – Southern Vermont College Mission Statement.

“Most of us ended up at SVC against the odds.  They did not give up on us and we should not give up on them.”  - Carol-ann Ricardo (SVC ’93)

ORIGINS OF SOUTHERN VERMONT COLLEGE

Southern Vermont College has its roots in Saint Joseph College which was established in downtown Bennington by the Sisters of Saint Joseph in 1926 as a business school.   The College offered certificates of proficiency in secretarial accounting, finance, shorthand and typewriting.  Eleven students were in the first graduating class. In 1962, it became an accredited junior college, St. Joseph College, awarding associate degrees in business and secretarial science. 

St. Joseph’s college later became Southern Vermont College; a small liberal arts college with more diversified degree offerings.   
 

THE ROAD TO LEARNING IS A BUMPY ONE

In 1974, Southern Vermont College was formed as a small private liberal arts college located at the base of Mount Anthony on the historic Edward Everett estate.   The college is situated on a beautiful 370+ acre campus.  From the onset, the school entrenched itself in a firm belief in the potential of every individual and catered to first generation college students, students who did not meet their full potential in high school, and students with learning disabilities.   Since the inception, Southern Vermont College has dramatically changed and improved many lives.  Indeed, Southern Vermont College provided opportunity for thousands of students throughout the years.  

Students who arrived on campus in the 1970’s through to the mid 1980’s were greeted by a sign at the entrance to the college that read “the road to learning is bumpy.”   Indeed, through this time period the college road was an unpaved dirt road and all that existed on campus was the 27-room Everett Mansion (now a historic landmark).  

Southern Vermont College students during this early time period resided in student housing located throughout the Bennington Community and ate meals at The Bennington Station.    Such housing options included:  Stark House (now a multi-family home), The Greenbrier (now The Autumn Inn), and others.

In the mid-1980’s to the early 1990’s, the Southern Vermont College community saw tremendous growth.   In the mid-1980’s the college constructed dorms A, B, and C.   By the late 1980’s, the campus added dorms D, E, a student activities center, a dining hall, and began construction on the gym.    During this time period students lived in dormitives on campus.   The only exceptions were in the spring semester of 1991 and the Academic Year 1991-1992 when the college rented out The Monument View Motel (now Pizza Hut) to house students because the dorms were over booked. 

The late-1990’s were a difficult time for the college.   Under new leadership, the college experienced a serious mission drift problem and partially abandoned the original mission of Southern Vermont College.  This mission drift had a huge impact on college enrollment and fostered a significant increase in the transfer rate at the college.   In addition, in 2002, the Southern Vermont College Board of Trustees voted on a ten-year deferment of a significant portion college debt and also depleted the college’s endowment.  This debt included the debt incurred for the construction under the prior administration (mid 1980’s-1990’s),

“SOUTHERN VERMONT COLLEGE IS A COLLEGE WORTH SAVING”

The New England Association of Schools and Colleges (now the New England Commission of Higher Education) once wrote, “Southern Vermont College is a college worth saving” due to the unique mission of the school.   Of course, they were referring to the original mission of the college; which the college has returned to embracing under the current leadership.

Under the current leadership, the college has seen several notable improvements.   To broach just a few of them, these improvements include:

-The college recently brought back the Environmental Studies degree program.  

-In January 2014, Southern Vermont College established the Veterans' Scholar Program (VSP).

-In Fall 2013, Southern Vermont College partnered with the College Steps Program for students with cognitive impairments. 

-In Fall 2018, US News and World Report recently ranked Southern Vermont College #25 in regional colleges in the North.

- In the summer of 2018, SVC signed an innovative partnership agreement with Southwestern Vermont Health Care to support nursing education for our students and help fill a workforce gap for SVHC

- The SVC Men’s Basketball team won four consecutive regular seasons in the New England Collegiate Conference (14-15, 15-16-, 16-17, and 17-18), and won the NECC tournament twice (16 and 18), going to the NCAA tournament.

- The MBB team won the ECAC tournament in 2015.

- The Women’s Volleyball Team won the NECC conference championship in 2018 and went to the NCAA WVB tournament

- The Men’s XC team won four consecutive NECC championships (14, 15, 16, 17).

- Nursing program gained CCNE accreditation in October, 2014.


As punctuated above, the current problems facing Southern Vermont College are entirely focused on the debt burden of the college.    There was nothing cited with respect to the quality of the academic programs.    It is very unfortunate that the debt burden was deferred and caught up to the college at a time when several indicators inform us that the college was on the upswing.   

Moreover, the college is a college worth saving because the academic integrity of their programs is in tact and the college does not have an overwhelming number of buildings.  Simply, there is no massive overhead that inflate the operating costs.   Without the debt burden, the college can operate within budget and poise itself for continued growth.  As a small college with no wasted building space, Southern Vermont College is a uniquely positioned small college that is sustainable without mounting debt burdens.  

 
TWO PRONGED APPROACH TO STABILIZATION

Foremost, the college must stop deferring debt and pay their debt off.   This is what the gofundme page is intended to do.   This money will pay off the debt and put the college on more stable financial ground.

Second, the alumni will begin to gather a network of ambassadors to assist the college with visiting High Schools to increase enrollment.   At no time will this be more paramount than the Fall 2019 semester, but we wish to keep this program up and running well into the college’s future.

PLEASE HELP

Please consider donating at any level that you feel comfortable and can afford.   There has never been a more important time to show your support of Southern Vermont College and its important mission.  

While you might feel like your contribution is a drop in the bucket, it will still be part of a resounding show of support we can use to attract bigger donors.    Let people know that Southern Vermont College means something to you.    As all the faculty, students, and alumni know, this instruction is very special and very much worth saving.      

Please remember, it is not always about the amount you give, but the support you show.   Every dollar matters, every dollar says something, and together we can save Southern Vermont College.